The story of living in spite of melanoma, CLND (X 2!), metastasis, vaccines, anti-PD-1, lung removal, and stereotactic radiation. (With a little adenocarcinoma ex-goblet cell carcinoid thrown in!!!) The story of life with family and friends. {Posts under ~ Sew Chaotically, Travel Chaotically, and Chaotic Cookery also housed within! A girl's gotta have fun!}

About Me

Who am I? That is a question the rest of you could probably answer better than I. I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, pediatric nurse practitioner, cook, teacher, gardener, lover of words and music, occasional seamstress, and homemaker. I do have a couple of talents of questionable merit: I can create a decent meal in less than 30 minutes. I can feed and/or soothe almost any baby. And I can remember practically any song I've ever heard. For the rest, I'd rather those who know me decide.

Melanoma
and brown seaweed: an integrative hypothesis. Teas, Irhimeh. J Apppl Phycol. 2017. Although
relatively rare, melanoma accounts for 2 % of cancer diagnoses
globally and accounts for about 1 % of all cancer deaths.
Worldwide, the annual incidence of melanoma is 272,000 cases which
vary hugely, ranging from Japan where it is incredibly infrequent, to
Queensland, Australia, where it is nearly 100 times higher. Based on
epidemiology and laboratory studies, there is compelling evidence
suggesting that seaweed might be protective against different types
of cancers such as breast cancer in seaweed consuming populations. By
comparing countries where melanoma is more common with countries
where it is infrequent, it is possible to construct a hypothesis for
how consuming brown seaweeds which may hold clues to the differences
in melanoma susceptibility between Japanese and Western nations.
Unlike in these other countries, where melanoma incidence has
increased dramatically over the last two decades, in Japan, rates
have remained remarkably low and stable. There is limited evidence
from clinical studies and animal models that have used whole seaweed
or isolated fractions from seaweed and measured changes in
biomarkers. They have demonstrated the effectiveness of seaweed at
inhibiting melanoma development and progression. In this review, the
various results will be described. Although there are several
effective fractions, it is proposed that consuming whole seaweeds may
hold additional benefits that could be lost by consuming only a
single extract.

Mitochondria-Associated Apoptosis in
Human Melanoma Cells Induced by Cardanol Monoene from Cashew Nut
Shell Liquid. Su, Lin, Yu, et al. J
Agric Food Chem. 2017 Jun 19. Cardanol monoene (CM) is the
major phenolic component extracted from cashew nut shell liquid
(CNSL), which has been relevant to wide range of biological effects.
In this study, we found that CM could inhibit the M14 human melanoma
cells proliferation in a dose dependent and time dependent manner,
and the IC50 values were determined to be 23.15 ± 2.42 μM and 12.30
± 1.67 μM after 24 h and 48 h treatment, respectively. The ﬂow
cytometric analysis demonstrated that CM induced M14 cell cycle
arrest at S phase, along with the collapse of mitochondrial membrane
potential (ΔΨm) and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species
(ROS) level in cells but the apoptotic cells reduced when treated
with Z-VAD-FMK (pan-caspase inhibitor). Western blotting showed that
the expressions of p53, cytochrome C, caspase-3 and PARP were
up-regulated, the expression level of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio increased
signiﬁcantly. The 2527 significant differentially expressed genes
were obtained by RNA-seq, which were assigned to 270 KEGG pathways.
These results indicated that CM induced M14 cells apoptosis via the
ROS triggered mitochondrial-associated pathways, which supports the
potential application of CM for the therapy of melanoma cancer.

Young
leaves of reed (Phragmites communis) suppress melanogenesis and
oxidative stress in B16F10 melanoma cells. Sim,
Ham, Lee. Biomed
Pharmacother. 2017 Jun 16. This
study investigated the effects young leaves of reed (Phragmites
communis) water extract (YLR) on melanogenesis and oxidative stress
using B16F10 cells. YLR decreased the intracellular melanin content,
protein expression and enzyme activity of tyrosinase in a
dose-dependent manner. YLR significantly decreased the gene and
protein expression of melanogeneis-related proteins, such as
microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), and
tyrosinase-related protein-1 and -2. In addition, YLR up-regulated
the melanogenesis inhibitory proteins, extracellular signal-regulated
kinase (ERK) and protein kinase B (AKT), while it dose-dependently
down-regulated p38 and cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB).
Moreover, YLR significantly reduced H2O2-induced
reactive oxygen species levels in B16F10 cells and showed antioxidant
activity based on DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activity and
SOD-like activity. These results suggest that YLR have
anti-melanogensis properties that function through regulation of the
CREB/MITF/tyrosinase pathway in B16F10 cells and antioxidant
activity. Overall, these findings indicate that YLR has the potential
for use in treatment of skin disorders and skin-whitening.

A
polymethoxyflavone mixture extracted from orange peels, mainly
containing nobiletin, 3,3',4',5,6,7,8-heptamethoxyflavone and
tangeretin, suppresses melanogenesis through the acidification of
cell organelles, including melanosomes. Yoshizaki, Hashizume,
Masaki. J
Dermatol Sci. 2017 Jun 10.Skin
color is determined by melanin contents and its distribution. Melanin
is synthesized in melanosomes of melanocytes, catalyzed by
tyrosinase, melanogenic enzymes. Regarding the process of melanin
synthesis, melanosomal pH is considered to play an important role,
because it has been reported to differ between Caucasian and Black
melanocytes.Although
polymethoxyflavone (PMF) has many beneficial effects, it has not been
reported which PMF suppresses melanogenesis. In this study, we
identified the mechanism underlying the effect of PMF on
melanogenesis METHODS: We determined the effects of a PMF mixture
extracted from orange peels on melanogenesis, on tyrosinase
expression, on the localization of tyrosinase and on the
acidification of organelles, including melanosomes, in HM3KO human
melanoma cells. RESULTS TREATMENT: with the PMF mixture elicited the
suppression of melanogenesis, the degradation of tyrosinase in
lysosomes and the mislocalization of tyrosinase associated with the
acidification of intracellular organelles, including melanosomes. The
neutralization of cell organelle pH by ammonium chloride restored
melanogenesis and the correct localization of tyrosinase to
melanosomes, which had been suppressed by the PMF mixture. These
results suggest that the PMF mixture suppresses the localization of
tyrosinase to melanosomes and consequently inhibits melanogenesis due
to the acidification of cell organelles, including melanosomes.Bioactivities
of ethanol extract from the Antarctic freshwater microalga,
Chloromonas sp. Suh, Yang, Lee, et al.Int
J Med Sci. 2017 Apr 28. Cancer
is the principal cause of human death and occurs through highly
complex processes that involve the multiple coordinated mechanisms of
tumorigenesis. A number of studies have indicated that the microalgae
extracts showed anticancer activity in a variety of human cancer
cells and can provide a new insight in the development of novel
anti-cancer therapy. Here, in order to investigate molecular
mechanisms of anticancer activity in the Antarctic freshwater
microalga, Chloromonas sp., we prepared ethanol
extract of Chloromonas sp. (ETCH) and performed
several in vitro assays using human normal
keratinocyte (HaCaT) and different types of cancer cells including
cervical, melanoma, and breast cancer cells (HeLa, A375 and Hs578T,
respectively). We revealed that ETCH had the antioxidant capacity,
and caused significant cell growth inhibition and apoptosis of cancer
cells in a dose-dependent manner, whereas it showed no
anti-proliferation to normal cells. In addition, ETCH had a
significant inhibitory effect on cell invasion without the cytotoxic
effect. Furthermore, ETCH-induced apoptosis was mediated by increase
in pro-apoptotic proteins including cleaved caspase-3 and p53, and by
decrease in anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2 in ETCH-treated cancer
cells. Taken together, this work firstly explored the antioxidant and
anticancer activities of an Antarctic freshwater microalga, and ETCH
could be a potential therapeutic candidate in the treatment of human
cancer.

Nuphar
lutea L. SM., leaf and rhizome extracts (NUP), contain
nupharidines as active components. Nupharidines belong to the
sesquiterpene lactones class of a naturally occurring plant
terpenoids. This family of compounds has gained considerable interest
for treating infection, inflammation and cancer. NF-κB is a central,
downstream regulator of inflammation, cell proliferation and
apoptosis. In our previous work we demonstrated strong inhibition of
NF-κB activity and induction of apoptosis by NUP. In addition, NUP
exhibited anti-inflammatory properties and partial protection from
LPS-induced septic shock by modulating ERK pathway and cytokine
secretion in macrophages. In the present study, we examined the
effect of NUP in a B16 melanoma experimental murine lung metastasis
model and its ability to affect the ERK and NF-κB pathways in
variety of cell lines. We showed that NUP and cisplatin combined
treatment was synergistic and reduced the lung metastatic load. In
addition NUP treatment inhibited TNFα-induced IκBα degradation and
NF- κB nuclear translocation. We also observed that NUP
induced ERK activation. Furthermore, ERK inhibition prevented NF-κB
inactivation by NUP. Overall, our work implies that co-administration
of NF-κB inhibitors such as NUP, with standard anti-cancer drugs,
may act as "sensitizers" for more effective chemotherapy.